Crime Branch invokes MCOCA against Illyas Bachkana, gang members

Mumbai Police has invoked MCOCA against seven accused, including gangster Illyas Bachkana, for kidnapping and attempting to extort ₹10 crore from a builder.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against seven accused, including gangster Mohammad Illyas Abdul Ajij Khan, also known as Illyas Bachkana. The accused stand accused of abducting and attempting to extort a substantial sum of ₹10 crore from the south Mumbai-based builder, Hifzur Rahman Ansari.

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Bachkana, with a criminal history encompassing over three dozen cases of robberies and assaults in the city, is one of the key figures in the case. The other individuals implicated in the kidnapping include Naushad Shaikh, 26, Vajid Yasin Shaikh, 43, Karim Wajid Khan, 41, Alamgir Alimuddin Malik, 37, and Mazhar Shakhir alias Sanu Shah. The seventh accused, Shafeeq Shokin Shah, remains at large.

Joint commissioner of police, crime branch, Lakhmi Gautam, has approved the use of MCOCA provisions in the case. Deputy commissioner of police Raj Tilak Roushan said, “We will approach the concerned court, and based on the court order, custody of the accused will be taken again from the concerned jail. They will be produced again in court to face the MCOCA charges.”

According to the police, the victim, Ansari, was reportedly kidnapped on November 23 from Mazgaon Circle. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₹10 crore from his family, alleging that Bachkana was the mastermind behind the abduction. The Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) traced Ansari to the Mandala area in Mankhurd, where he was found confined in a room by the accused. The victim was beaten and his hands and legs were tied using a rope. The police arrested Bachkana and Naushad Shaikh while other three suspects were also arrested on November 24. Police officials said Bachkana claimed that Ansari owed him money, leading to the abduction.

The accused faces charges under sections 364A (kidnapping or abduction for ransom), 384 (extortion), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The crime branch started searching for the victim and during investigations, the police found that both the victim and the accused were booked in a case at Byculla police station in 2021. It was alleged that Ansari had allegedly given ransom to Bachkana to eliminate his former business partner, a wholesale dealer of nuts and bolts who was also in the construction business.

In April of that year, three men armed with country-made weapons and iron rods barged into the partner’s office and assaulted him, leaving him injured. Both Bachkana and Rahaman were booked in that case.

A police team visited Indore where Bachkana’s family lives and recovered four mobile phones from them. Another team traced the accused Mazhar Shah in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh and brought him to Mumbai. All the six arrested accused are in the judicial custody.